The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Saturday won the by-election to the Jalandhar Lok Sabha seat in Punjab, giving the party its only member in the lower house of Parliament.
In assembly bypolls, Apna Dal (Sonelal) won the two seats in Uttar Pradesh, while the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and the United Democratic Party (UDP) bagged a seat each in Odisha and Meghalaya, respectively.
The bypolls to the lone Lok Sabha seat, and four assembly constituencies across three states were held on May 10, along with the elections to 224-member Karnataka assembly.
In Jalandhar, AAP candidate Sushil Kumar Rinku (47) defeated his Congress rival Karamjit Kaur Chaudhary by 58,691 votes. A prominent Dalit leader and former Congress MLA, Rinku switched to the AAP on April 27 and was declared as the party candidate a day later. Rinku polled 302,279 votes or 34.05% of the total vote share, marginally improving (by 0.31%) the party’s tally in the constituency from the 2019 general elections.
“This is the people’s victory. They have come to know that only the AAP can understand their pain and bring Punjab back on track,” Rinku told reporters after the results were announced. “I thank the party leadership, including party supremo Arvind Kejriwal and (Punjab chief minister) Bhagwant Mann for reposing faith in me.”
{{/usCountry}}“This is the people’s victory. They have come to know that only the AAP can understand their pain and bring Punjab back on track,” Rinku told reporters after the results were announced. “I thank the party leadership, including party supremo Arvind Kejriwal and (Punjab chief minister) Bhagwant Mann for reposing faith in me.”
{{/usCountry}}The bypoll was necessitated due to the death of sitting Congress lawmaker Santokh Chaudhary, who died due to a heart attack while taking part in the Bharat Jodo Yatra led by party leader Rahul Gandhi on January 14.
AAP national convener and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said the victory was an outcome of the Bhagwant Mann government’s good work in Punjab.
“We do politics of work and seek votes from people for our work, and people have put a stamp on Bhagwant Mann government’s work saying ‘we are with you’... This is a big message,” Kejriwal said in Delhi.
Ever since the AAP’s defeat in the Sangrur parliamentary bypoll last year, the party did not have a Lok Sabha MP. The Sangrur seat fell vacant after Bhagwant Mann resigned as an MP after being elected to the Punjab assembly.
In Uttar Pradesh, bypolls were held in Suar and Chhanbey (Scheduled Caste) seats, both of which were won by the Apna Dal (Sonelal), an ally of ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the state.
Shafeek Ahmed Ansari of the Apna Dal (S) defeated Samajwadi Party’s Anuradha Chauhan by a margin of 8,724 votes in the Suar assembly bypoll, which was necessitated following the disqualification of senior SP leader Azam Khan’s son Abdullah Azam Khan in February after his conviction and two-year sentencing in a 15-year-old case.
In Chhanbey (SC) assembly seat, Apna Dal (S) candidate Rinki Kol defeated SP’s Kirti Kol by 9,587 votes. The seat fell vacant following the death of sitting Apna Dal (S) MLA Rahul Prakash Kol in February.
In Odisha, the ruling BJD led by chief minister Naveen Patnaik retained the Jharsuguda assembly seat with its candidate Dipali Das defeating Tankadhar Tripathy of the BJP by 48,721 votes. The bypoll was necessitated due to the assassination of state’s health minister Naba Kisore Das, the father of Dipali, in January.
“Though I lost my father, I got the father-like blessings and support from Naveen Patnaik ji,” Dipali Das said after winning.
In Meghalaya, Synshar Kupar Roy Lyngdoh Thabah of the UDP beat Samlin Malngiang of the National People’s Party (NPP) by 3,422 votes to win the Sohiong bypoll in East Khasi Hills.
The seat was vacant after voting was adjourned due to the death of UDP candidate HDR Lyngdoh ahead of the assembly elections on February 27.